China Camp visitor Remy Wilson walks past one of the old shrimping boats on display on the beach. California State Senator Joe Simitian has unveiled a plan to save state parks including the popular China Camp State Park in Marin County, Calif.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

China Camp visitor Remy Wilson walks past one of the old shrimping...

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A sign beckons visitors at the now closed restaurant that used to serve local shrimp. California State Senator Joe Simitian has unveiled a plan to save state parks including the popular China Camp State Park in Marin County, Calif.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

A sign beckons visitors at the now closed restaurant that used to...

Image 3 of 3

Olompali State Historical Park Maintenance Supervisor Victor Bjelajac holds a piece of porelain on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. It was among artifacts found on the site of the former Burdell Mansion at Olompali State Historical Park north of Novato, Calif., Before it burned on Feb. 2, 1969, the mansion was a hippie scene which housed among others, the members of the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin.

Don't expect to see padlocks and chains across the gates of Olompali, China Camp and the other state parks that were scheduled for closure starting this weekend.

That's because most of the 30 parks across California that faced shutdowns starting Sunday won a major reprieve Thursday: Parks officials said the budget approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will keep most of them open this year.

A total of 70 parks were threatened with closure but private groups have stepped up to keep 40 of them open. Nearly all of the remaining 30, which also included Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in San Francisco, were in negotiations to stay open, but those talks had not been finished and a Sunday deadline was looming.

Line-item vetoes

The announcement came even as Brown whacked $31 million from a $41 million plan approved by the Legislature to help state parks. Brown made the move as part of his $196 million in line-item vetoes of the state budget that deepened cuts in college aid, child care and preschool programs for low-income Californians.

Those line-item vetoes were announced Thursday morning, and parks advocates at first were angered, but then celebrated as the administration announced shortly after that 25 parks in jeopardy of closing with the start of the fiscal year Sunday would be able to stay open this year. That's because the remaining $10 million created a cushion to finish negotiations with local groups and others who would take over the management of those 25 parks.

"It will give us a path to keep most, if not all, state parks open and it'll help make parks more financially sustainable," said John Laird, secretary of the state Resources Agency. He said the Legislature's action gave the state "breathing room" to finish the outstanding agreements, which could be done in a matter of weeks.

Parks officials said two of the five still on the closure list would be totally shuttered at the start of the fiscal year Sunday: California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa and Providence Mountain State Recreation Area in the eastern Mojave Desert.

Big service cuts

Three parks - Benicia State Recreation Area, Gray Whale Cove State Beach in San Mateo County and Zmudowski State Beach in Monterey County - will remain open but with limited or no services.

Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who was a co-author of the parks budget proposal passed by the Legislature but cut the governor, said, "I think for the most part it's a good news day. The goal from the outset has been to avoid up to 70 closures that were announced by the administration."

Brown also used his line-item veto power to add to the $8 billion in cuts that lawmakers already made, deepening reductions to child care and preschool programs for poor families, student college aid and food stamps.

The line-item vetoes include nearly $129 million in cuts to the state's general spending account. Another $67 million was slashed from special funds.

Among Brown's reductions are a 5 percent cut in Cal Grants for students at private and for-profit universities this year, lowering the grant to $9,223, and much deeper cuts the following two years. Lawmakers had already reduced that program under the budget act they sent to Brown on June 15.

Students at private non-profit institutions will see a 6 percent cut in their Cal Grant next year, followed by an additional 10 percent cut in 2014. Students at for-profit schools face a 50 percent cut in their grant in 2013.

Brown also lowered Cal Grants for some recipients who attend the University of California, California State University and community colleges. Very low-income "Cal Grant B" recipients will see a nearly $80 reduction in their living stipend. Also, "Cal Grant C" recipients - who attend occupational or career technical schools and community colleges - will see a reduction in tuition assistance and their supplies stipend.

Preschool programs

The governor took $29 million from preschool programs, which will reduce the number of slots available to poor children. Also, lawmakers had approved the elimination of more than 10,000 slots for children in state-subsidized child care and the governor upped that to 14,000 slots.

In both cases, Brown wrote that while he "would have preferred to restructure rates and reform the program to achieve savings, this across-the-board reduction in slots is necessary to help bring ongoing expenditures in line with existing resources."

He also reduced spending on childhood nutrition at private schools and child care centers by another $10 million, while cutting CalFresh, the food stamp program, by $54 million.

Some Democrats reacted strongly to the governor's actions. Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, said Brown had "essentially launched the Hunger Games" in California.

The additional cuts show Brown has "a calculated determination to make the poor children of California pay the highest price. Gov. Brown has overplayed his hand and misjudged the appetite of Californians to cause suffering to children," Bonilla said.